Nav Social Menu

Red, White and Do (July: DIFO Project)

Over dinner, when we pray for a different country from the book, Window On The World, my kids ask the same question, “Is the country we’re praying for free?”

They may not understand politics or the reason we have troops stationed all over the world, but they know freedom.

My kids understand that we have freedom to speak and worship as we please because we are Americans.

And while I might not agree with our current government, I’m proud to be an American and I thank God for our service men and women.

Can I encourage you to remember them this weekend?

Buy a special edition military Bible for $4.99, write a personal note of thanks and Lifeway Bible bookstore will get it into the hands of a US soldier. Don’t have a Lifeway near you? Order a military Bible online.

Red

White

And Do.

July Do-It-For-Other Project: Help Wounded American Soldiers

This is from the wife of a wounded soldier:

“My husband was wounded in Iraq on January 26, 2005. He sustained permanent shrapnel injuries to his face, right leg and knee, leftshoulder and arm, and right hand. He also has a traumatic brain injury from the blast and post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal.
Wounded veterans leaving the current theaters of operation in Iraq and Afghanistan are evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. This hospital is the first landing place where they are operated on and begin their treatment and rehabilitation. Many are brought there with literally nothing. The clothes that were on their backs were cut off in the theater to check for wounds before they were evacuated first by helicopter and then by plane. Their gear often fails to make the trip with them or was so badly damaged it is no longer able to be used.
Imagine that is your husband, your brother, your son. Imagine that’s someone YOU loved sitting in that hospital room alone. If he has a buddy there, he wishes he didn’t, because they’re both there for the same reason. For his family to arrive, it’s an 8+ hour flight from America and many can’t afford to make the trip or aren’t prepared for it. He’s as alone as he’ll ever be in his life at a time when he should never have to feel alone.

Granted, we can’t just reach out and give him a hug but we CAN make a difference. When my husband arrived at Landstuhl the generosity of strangers made that wait until I could get there so much easier. He was given clothes that had been donated, model cars to put together and paint, and cards from across the country of people showing their support and telling him that his sacrifice was appreciated.”

Here’s what WEcanDO (send the following items):

Burger King Gift Certificates
International Calling Cards
Sweatsuits (small to x-large)
Athletic Shoes (men’s 9-12, women’s 6-9)
Men’s and Women’s fall and winter jackets (med to x-large)
Backpacks, Gym Bags, and Small Suitcases (something to store their
clothes in)
DVDs to put in the hospital wards for them to watch

If you don’t know what to send but want to do more, checks are also accepted made out to: IMA-E CTOF-WW

Please note that shipping to an APO AE address is IDENTICAL to shipping rates for New York. You can use flat rate packages to ship large amounts of cards.

Leave a comment ONLY if you are able to send something during the month of July to support our American soldiers, wounded in battle, keeping us FREE.

P.S. I’m sending out hundreds of pillowcases to seamstresses early next week! I will update y’all with the totals on dresses in early August-I think we might be close to 300!! We aren’t collecting supplies anymore, but we are accepting completed dresses until the end of July. You can get more details about that project here.

Im not Amercian from the Uk but our soliders are fighting for freedom alongside yours. I pray for all of them, the courage and commitment they show is beyond. This month I have got so cross at all the world cup fever and the flying of our flags for the overpaid football players. Our soliders are who we should be flying our flags for, they deserve our respect and honour xxx

I was so excited to see your post to day because we signed and sent two Bibles from Lifeway the other day. It seemed like a small thing for us to do but after reading your post so glad we took the time to, hopefully, encourage one who is giving all to help us keep our freedoms. America Bless God!

My youngest son (Cade, 20 months old) was born at Landstuhl. There were many OB appointments where I left the hospital in tears… You see, one of the “main” (meaning convenient to parking) entrances to the hospital is the ER. When the wounded soldiers come in, they are brought in through the ER. I would beam with pride for these soldiers as I walked past their beds or wheel chairs that lined the hall… I’d smile and want so badly to reach out and hug them; the bandages kept me away, in fear I’d hurt them. But I’d smile and say hello, and tell them thank you.
They’d always, always smile back.
And I know they felt my hug anyway.

Thank you for this post. Thank you for thinking about our soldiers.
My family will be joining in with you… But we’ll hand deliver our donations. 🙂

Thank you for this idea! We’ll be sending out at least one package. My husband is in Afghanistan but says that he doesn’t “need” anything. We feel like we should be doing more so this is very helpful! Thanks for being such a great motivator, your ideas for getting involved in various projects are wonderful.

And a great big THANK YOU for your Wild Olive giveaway– I won and am so looking forward to getting my Tee. What an unexpected treat to put a smile on my face during a trying time!

Thanks so much for this information. So often, I think people want to DO SOMETHING but just don’t know where to start. My family will be sending a package and I am going to forward this info to my Bible Study group and a play group. Your blog is very important! Keep up the great work!